Photos: Top 10 Local Albums of 2012

Caption10. Smashing Pumpkins "Oceania"

HANDOUT

Though Smashing Pumpkins mastermind Billy Corgan has long been labeled a control freak, the guitar-driven "Oceania" comes across like the product of an honest-to-goodness band rather than the work of one man with an iron fist. "It takes some life to find the light within," sings Corgan on "The Chimera." This is the sound of a creative spark reignited.

Though Smashing Pumpkins mastermind Billy Corgan has long been labeled a control freak, the guitar-driven "Oceania" comes across like the product of an honest-to-goodness band rather than the work of one man with an iron fist. "It takes some life to find the light within," sings Corgan on "The Chimera." This is the sound of a creative spark reignited. (HANDOUT)

Longtime Local H frontman Scott Lucas cuts deep on his second album with the Married Men, turning out brooding, country-tinged rockers rooted in weighty subjects like death, love, heartbreak and loss.

Longtime Local H frontman Scott Lucas cuts deep on his second album with the Married Men, turning out brooding, country-tinged rockers rooted in weighty subjects like death, love, heartbreak and loss. (HANDOUT)

Chicago's music scene is as sprawling, deep and diverse as the metropolis itself, and it would be impossible for any one person to take in everything produced by the city's musicians over the course of the year. With that caveat in mind, here are the 10 local albums I returned to most often in 2012. --Andy Downing, for RedEye